According to one definition, food poverty occurs when individuals and households are unable to obtain an adequate, nutritious diet. This may be because they cannot afford to buy healthy food or because there is a lack of readily accessible shops.
13 Million people live in poverty in the UK. Every day, people are forced to go hungry. It could be due to delays in benefits coming through or because they have received an unexpected bill which is beyond their means on a low income.
Over 40,000 people volunteer at foodbanks across the nation and some of them channel their efforts into Moray Foodbank.
Moray Foodbank aims to alleviate food poverty in the Moray area.
In 2016, their efforts helped 2,210 people.
They identify people in crisis and, from there, a team of volunteers prepares emergency food parcels. The volunteers must ensure that food is in date and then packed into bags, ready to be delivered to those in need. The aim is to provide a minimum of 3 days’ food to each person in crisis.
Packs generally include a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit, together with tinned and dried fruit.
Over 90% of the food given out by Moray Foodbank is donated by the public.
Grigor & Young has chosen Moray Foodbank to be its nominated charity for 2017 and we are glad to support their important work, giving crucial help to local people without the money or means to feed themselves properly.
Working on a referral basis from many Moray agencies (e.g. Social Work, Health Visitors and Housing), Moray Foodbank also accepts self-referrals. Get in touch with them for further information, in confidence.
Moray Foodbank’s mission is in four parts, as follows:
- For people with direct experience of food insecurity to contribute to shape their services.
- To develop and run projects that recognise the social value of food.
- To provide opportunities for people to contribute to projects through volunteering.
- Where possible, to enable people to choose what they eat in a dignified way.
If the national food crisis is something you feel strongly about and you have a few hours to spare each week, why not consider joining the Moray Foodbank as a volunteer?